The Tor Project officially introduced WebTunnel, a new bridge type specifically designed to help bypass censorship targeting the Tor network by hiding connections in plain sight.
Tor bridges are relays not listed in the public Tor directory that keep the users' connections to the network hidden from oppressive regimes.
While some countries, like China and Iran, have found ways to detect and block such connections, Tor also provides obfsproxy bridges, which add an extra layer of obfuscation to fight censorship efforts.
WebTunnel, the censorship-resistant pluggable transport inspired by the HTTPT probe-resistant proxy, takes a different approach.
It makes it harder to block Tor connections by ensuring that the traffic blends in with HTTPS-encrypted web traffic.
Since blocking HTTPS would also block the vast majority of connections to web servers, the WebTunnel connections will also be permitted, effectively circumventing censorship in network environments with protocol allow lists and deny-by-default policies.
Open Tor Browser and go to the Connection preferences window.
Note any issues or unexpected behavior while using WebTunnel.
The WebTunnel pluggable transport was first introduced in December 2022 as an integration that could be tested using a Tor Browser test build.
This Cyber News was published on www.bleepingcomputer.com. Publication date: Tue, 12 Mar 2024 16:55:20 +0000